Review: Malaysian Babies of the 70s/early 80s

I receive this via email some time back.. I enjoy reading it and thought some of you might enjoy reading it as well.. Especially those who are born in those eras. Remembering those good old days :) The one written in brackets in black italic font style is my answer..

You grew up watching He-man, Transformers, Thundercats, Silver Hawk and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget Ninja turtles, Mask and Smurfs too. (Anyone remembers "Cumi dan Ciki" - the local Malaysian muppet show in the early 80's (I don't like the show, and can't remember it well.. Is Cumi and Ciki a butterfly and a monkey or vice versa? The show just suddenly pop up in my mind when I write this post.. I'm just wondering anyone remember the show?) and "The Muppets" (with Kermit the Frog, Piggy the Pig etc..)? )

You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in primary school after recess time. You squatted by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brushed your teeth with a colourful mug. (Hahha.. I stand by the drain, didn't squat :P)

Remember the days when the school nurse comes with a list for the dentist appointment.. the sound of the drilling when ur friend has a fill in his tooth. (Err... I hate fillings during my primary school times..)

You remember the packets of milk we get in primary school to encourage us to drink more milk. (The yummy chocolate milk drink (Projek Susu Sekolah).. at least it was yummy during those days.. Can't remember exactly the price.. I guess it was something like 30 cents per packet? )

During primary school days, the teacher will punish you using a ruler to hit your palm. (Teachers those days used to hit the pupils hands with ruler if the pupils were naughty or disobeyed the school rules or didn't do homework etc.. Hehhee.. I am a good student, so I hardly get punished.. ). A bowl of noodles soup cost only 40c in primary school days. (Most of the time, I bring my own food (bekal) to school, prepared by my mum in the early morning. So, I seldom bring pocket $$ to school. Things and food are cheap during those days, but I can't remember the exact price of the food stuff..) When you were in primary school, girls like to go to the bookshop to buy cute stuff such as animal erasers, sharpeners, notebook etc. (I don't have extra $$$ to buy all those cute stuffs.. So, I don't have any of those).

In secondary school, girls go to the library to borrow their favourite romance storybook. In secondary school, girls altered their school skirt to shorten it and guys will go to the school appointed school uniform tailor shop to tailor make their school trousers to the then fashionable "baggy pants"! (Hahhaa.. I seldom read romance story book.. Prefer reading the fiction or detective story books).

In secondary school days, you buy the Bata BM Turbo school shoes. Some guys like to wear those china made ankle high shoes. Some even like to wear those very thick socks with their school shoes. (Bata is a famous brand during my days.. One of my friend/classmate's father is the owner of the Bata Shoes Shop in Sarikei during those days).

Internet? E-mail? What the hell is that? So you thought a decade or more ago. Your friends don't have pagers or handphones in school. (I only get to know about internet and email during my university days - in the mid 90's ).

CDs? What's that? Cassette tapes were the norm. Movie tickets used to cost less than $5 last time. (I still have the Sony walkman with cassette tapes.. Followed by the Discman (I don't have any of those). Nowadays, school kids have mp3 or mp4 players..)

The goodies from Mama shop used to be Mamee, Ka ka,Kum Kum, Ding Dang choco balls (with toys in the box), colourful hard "egg", "cigarette" chocolate, pink bottle of bubbles, and small tubes with orange sticks to blow "more lasting" bubbles that you can pop more air in or slam it on. (I'm sure many of us still remember all these things.. Hahhaa.. the colourful hard egg candies, the cigarrette chocolate, blowing bubbles from the orange sticks...)

When exams are over, the board games (eg:UNO,Monopoly) & hand held video games will be all over the class room. (What I did after exams? I can't remember.. might be reading story books? The only handheld video games I have during those days was the "Octopus" video games... Hahhaa... I guess most of those who were born in the 70's have played this game before... How about you? )

Your favourite sound is the bell! For it's the homemade ice cream man. The cream that tops Haagan Dazs! The pink colour ice-cream with eyes plus a wide smile. Another bell is the recess bell, a time to get away from school work and to eat. Another time when there is no bell but all guys will anxiously wait for it...The PJ/PE time. (I guess everyone of us love the recess bell and the "school is over" bell..)

Your favourite childhood games were playing "guli"(marbles), five stones, zero-point, catching, Police & Sentry. (I remember we used to play the hide and seek and chasing games.. During recess time in my primary school days, I love to play the five-stones game with my classmates.)

The best thirst quencher of all times is the yummy colourful ice tubes you can buy from provision shops. To eat them, break the tab and suck while holding the freezing tube! (Another nostalgic ice cream I have during my days are the syrup filled in long plastic tubes with an assam or soey boi at one end of the tubes, and knotted at the other end.. This frozen ice cream only costed 10 or 20 cents per tube).

All gals have a barbie doll/strawberry shortcake/my little pony/pound puppy, while all boys have a star wars figurine or a rubber band catapult thatshoots folded paper! Once was the era whereby ice-cream sticks were valueable items, than came the paper aircrafts, chalk fights. Some boys made their own guns from wood,and used 'Bacali' as the bullets. (I don't have any of those dolls.. But I remember the days playing with paper aircrafts or making wonders with pieces of papers..)

Everyone envies the class monitor and his assistant, cos they were the ones who can come up with the daily duty rooster, giving names to teacher on who makes the most noise. The elite group are the prefects, the one with license to move around, they consider themselves above the law. (mmmm... I don't envy my class monitor.. hahhaha... we are good friends)

And your favourite holiday was Lunar New Year! New clothes, ang pows, shopping, junk food and family outings! (During my childhood days, CNY means new clothes, nice food, angpow, fire crackers, lion dance etc etc .. Love CNY during childhood days but not nowadays...)

Cheers to the Malaysia 70's & early 80's babies... Anyone want to share their feedbacks and review on these matters? I would like to hear your stories :)

*Side note:
I have written a similar post previously (in Octorber 2005) with the title Those were the days - talking about the old days. Those who are interested can have a look... Included there were the monochrome computer screen with green coloured text and picture display, the 5 & 1/4 inches floppy disks, snail mails, queueing up at the phone booth when wanting to make phone calls, etc etc....